martes, 3 de junio de 2008

Sliding to the thick carpet, the woman decided that it was time to start if she wanted to make it on time. She sat in the lotus position and closed her eyes, concentrating.

Slowly all external noises faded and all she was aware of was her own breathing. She clearly pictured an image in her head, a red haired woman she had seen in the street in her way home, willing her body to change. Genes were rearranged, like Rubik cube colors in the hands of a smart child, changing tissue and bones at her command. With almost no effort her skin lightened, her limbs extended and filled with muscle; her face changed as well, mirroring the features of the woman, and her dark tresses dissolved into a closely cut helmet of fiery red hair.

When she finally stood up and went to check her new looks, an unfamiliar face looked back from the mirror. Her hair was no longer black, her skin lighter and creamy and she stood much taller than her own five foot two. The only thing that remained the same were her eyes. They had stayed the same vivid green color, not the clear blue she had pictured in her head. *Sloppy, but it will have to do,* she thought, wondering why it was so hard for her to consciously change the color of her eyes, when they so easily betrayed her true nature when she less wanted. Her now freckled skin was pearled with perspiration after her exercises, so she took a shower before leaving the place.

She always liked walking in somebody else's skin

Half an hour later, a tall red haired woman left the woman's apartment and headed towards the street. With a light step she quickly walked the dozen blocks that separated her from her destination, unable to erase the smile from her face. She always liked walking in somebody else's skin, she could almost believe she was somebody else, somebody human.

DescriptionAlessa resembles her mother’s human form, apart from her father eyes; she has dark hair and bronzed skin. Her mouth is full and her eyes are somewhat slanted, and green as a cat’s. She’s short and slim. Her skin, eyes and general appearance can change, though, for she is half a shapeshifter demon.

HistoryAlessa Hunt was an only child, she had a normal childhood in Santa María -a small village in Paraguay, South America- where her father, Alec Hunt, was working for an international company, until she was twelve and learned the truth about herself.

Alec had fallen in love with a beautiful native woman and had married against the will of either her family or his own. After the marriage Alec had noticed some strange things about his wife but he had been so blinded by love that he hadn’t paid much attention to them. Anyway, when his wife got pregnant she started to lose weight and seemed so preoccupied that his initial happiness turned to worry, but she wouldn’t tell him anything. However, when the pregnancy was coming to term the health of his wife turned extremely delicate and the night Alessa was born, María, her mother, finally told her husband the truth about herself. She was a Verbati Demon, and something about the pregnancy by a man was killing her; she wanted Alec to know about her true self.

This stunned Alec, and at first he didn’t believe it, but as labour got worse he saw glimpses of his wife’s true form, for Verbati Demons were shapeshifters and could take any form they wanted. María had seen Alec working and had fallen in love with him so she had taken human form to be with him. María made Alec promise to take her daughter to her kind when she was old enough to understand, and then, when the baby finally was born, she died.

Faithful to his promise, Alec raised the seemingly normal girl until the moment he presented her to her mother’s kind. This turned Alessa’s world upside down, she started to learn about herself and about the powers of Verbati Demons.

Alessa was lucky to grow up in South America. Her hometown, Santa María, in the border between Brazil and Paraguay, was a place where magic mingled with reality, and no one faulted a mixed blood. The rain forest was near and all knew that non-human things lived there. Alessa was not the first half demon in town, nor would she be the last, so she hadn’t grown up having to hide herself to survive.

Her father died long ago from old age, but together they had researched in the ways of the occult so Alessa has deep knowledge of demonic races and customs.

When she was about 40 years old, but looked like a teenager, Morris Giles, a Watcher, contacted her. He believed Alessa to be a vampire slayer potential so he started training her. The Council, however, decided against it for they believed that only full-blooded humans could be Slayers. Morris Giles continued believing her to be one though, and he kept on training and watching her. Therefore she also knows fighting techniques and has a good use of weapons.

Morris and Alessa also developed a relationship, living together until Morris died at the hands of a group of vampires. Her lover’s death left Alessa desolated, and she has been alone ever since.

After Morris Giles died, she went in search of his nephew, Rupert Giles. His track brought her to Sunnydale, where she met him and Buffy Summers. Anyway she hadn’t taken into account the bitterness the man felt for his own uncle. As the rest of the Watchers’ Council, he believed his uncle to be mad and had lost any respect for him. It didn’t help that the “demon” that had been his madness appeared on his front door. After such cold welcome Alessa decided to leave Sunnydale and return to South America.

However, after a couple of years trying to live a normal life in Santa María, her hometown, she decided that she needed to start anew in some other place. She decided to finally contact his father's family, or what remained of it, and thus travelled to the United States.

There, she settled on the city of Alhambra in L.A where she tries to live like an ordinary person, she got a job teaching Spanish in a downtown high school and is trying to lead an ordinary life, gathering strength to finally contact her niece and nephew. Instead, she met a group of people who would change her life: the White Hats.

PowersSince Alessa isn't a pure blooded Verbati demon, she can't morph easily, thus she can't take animal or demon form and only after hours of concentration she can change into a different human body. She can easily take her demon appearance, nevertheless, but she doesn’t like to do so. She can also roughly camouflage herself, mostly unconsciously. Alessa usually tries to hide her demon nature from people. Anyway, when she experiences strong emotions, like fury, sadness or happiness, her eyes betray her feelings and change from their usually bright green to any colour that mirrors her emotions.

She's stronger and more agile than humans too, which sometimes surprises her opponents, given her size. As most demons, her senses are highly developed. Another side effect of her mixed blood is an extremely long life - she was born in the turn of the century but looks barely twenty something. She is mortal, nevertheless.